Karissa & Jeremy’s Okauchee Wedding at the Golden Mast Inn

From Meeting to “Marry Me?”

Karissa from Franklin and Jeremy from Potosi met through mutual friends. For one of their dates, the two took an Edelweiss cruise down the Milwaukee River. That’s when Jeremy says he first realized he was in love with Karissa. About a year later on Memorial Day weekend, the couple took another excursion down the river. “Jeremy pretended like we were taking a photo on the deck,” Karissa recalls. “He got down on one knee during the picture and proposed. Of course, I said yes!”

Wedding Planning

Jeremy and Karissa planned an August wedding at the Golden Mast Inn on Okauchee Lake. “It’s such a beautiful location on the water. We love the classic feel and dreamy atmosphere.” The theme of their wedding was romantic, chic, and elegant with a color scheme of blush pink, silver, and white. Karissa found her Sottero & Midgley Addison dress at Amelishan Bridal in Hubertus. She says the one thing she would have changed about the planning process: “For a larger wedding like ours, I would have budgeted for a wedding planner or coordinator. I had so many questions!”

Wine Ceremony

During their Golden Mast ceremony, Karissa and Jeremy had a wine ceremony. There was a wine box with their favorite bottle of wine inside, and during the ceremony, the bride and groom’s parents came up and put a message they had written into the wine box. “We also wrote letters to each other about why we were getting married and what we love about each other. We get to open the letters and drink the wine on our five-year anniversary.” Lending music to the ceremony was a violin and cello duet courtesy of Gabriel’s Horns, and Karissa’s sister-in-law sang “Can’t Help Falling in Love with You.”

Documenting the Day

All photos were taken right on-site at the Golden Mast. Jeremy and Karissa worked with Complete Weddings for both photography and videography. Jillian snapped the photos, Josh handled video, and Misty ran the photo booth. “Misty even put a duplicate of all our guest photos into a scrapbook for us!” Being an awesome one-stop-shop, Complete Weddings also deejayed the reception.

Dinner, Dessert & Dancing

The Golden Mast catered and bartended the entire evening. Dinner began with a house salad. For entrées, guests had a choice of sautéed chicken breast in a mushroom wine sauce, baked salmon fillet in a bourbon maple glaze, or vegetarian mushroom ravioli with fresh zucchini, squash, and broccoli florets in a tomato basil beurre blanc. Sides included garlic mashed potatoes, fresh-baked rolls, and French onion cream cheese paté.

For dessert, Jeremy and Karissa turned to Simma’s for a Chocolate Tuxedo Torte. The bottom tier was strawberry cheesecake with white chocolate frosting. The middle tier was a strawberry and buttercream cake with a white chocolate shell. Lastly, the top tier was a red velvet cake with a white chocolate shell. A sweet end to an even sweeter wedding day!